Shiv Sena plans big in Uttar Pradesh, to contest against Yogi Adityanath

UP CM Yogi Adityanath poses for photos next to a seven-foot-tall statue of Lord Ram, in Ayodhya. File pic/AFP

While relentlessly attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party for claiming to be the only architect of Ayodhya's Ram Mandir campaign, the Shiv Sena will be challenging the candidature of the ruling party's prominent face and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is likely to contest from Ayodhya in the forthcoming Legislative Assembly elections. Armed with a tweaked poll strategy, the Sena aims to contest in 50-100 seats in the country's political powerhouse, where the BJP is witnessing a steady outgoing of ministers and MLAs ahead of the nomination.

Talking to the reporters in New Delhi, Sena's Rajya Sabha MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said the party will launch its campaign from Mathura, a revered place for pilgrimage. The Sena has also sought the opinion of farmers' leader Rakesh Tikait, who spearheaded a year-long agitation on Delhi borders demanding withdrawal of the contentious farm laws and succeeding.

Raut said the Sena plans to contest elections from 50 to 100 seats across UP. He said the strategic approach will yield the party representation in the country's biggest Legislative Assembly. "Shiv Sena has struggled a lot for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Since we initiated the Ayodhya struggle, others should not claim credit for it (the success). We're going to contest in Ayodhya and Mathura," he said, adding that he will be camping in Mathura for a couple of days.

Sena-Ayodhya connection

The Shiv Sena had contested in UP in 2017, but returned without a win. The party made Ayodhya a centre point for its politics in the northern state ahead of the Ram Mandir-Babri resolution. Party president Uddhav Thackeray visited Ayodhya before and after becoming the Maharashtra CM, and each time, he challenged the BJP's claim that it alone made the Ayodhya campaign a grand success.

The Sena has always reminded the BJP of its founder Bal Thackeray's role in leading and owning the tearing down of Babri Masjid and protecting the demolition party. It has consistently accused the BJP of fearing the punitive action post the demolition. The BJP has questioned the Sena's Hindutva in a new set-up in the state. The BJP-Sena rivalry, which turned hostile after Thackeray joined hands with the Congress and the NCP to form a government in 2019, is expected to play another round in UP.

‘Congress can't win Goa without us'

Speaking about the Goa polls, Raut said the Congress won't even win a single digit in the state if it doesn't ally with the Sena, NCP and the Goa Forward Party. "We have asked for the seats that the Congress has never won. The Congress can contest 30 out of 40 seats, and give us 10 seats. In fact, we are trying to support the Congress that cannot win a single digit independently. We have discussed the issue with Rahul Gandhi, but we don't know the mindset of the local Congress leaders, who are extremely confident," Raut said.

50-100
Approx. no. of seats Sena plans to contest from